


A new message

by francoantoniohierro



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Asshole!Gerard, Blackmail, Cheating, M/M, Online Relationship, Secret Relationship, Underage - Freeform, alternative universe, really inappropiate relationship in general, underage!frank
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-11-08 18:04:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11087049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/francoantoniohierro/pseuds/francoantoniohierro
Summary: AU: Gerard is a creepy virgin who flirts with underage boys online. Frank is a naive underage boy online. Bad decisions ensue.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> yo i wrote like 15 pages of this story a year ago. today i felt like i should post some of it. ehh. its a lil weird and im sorry.

Gerard Way was a thirty year old virgin from New Jersey. HIs lifestyle was perhaps a little "creepy", but he didn't consider himself a "creep". To him, he wasn’t doing something wrong. Sure, it wasn't something he was proud of, but it didn't feel _illegal_. He never even met them.

Gerard worked at a small art supply store. It was inside a shopping mall near his mother’s house. He didn’t make tons of money working there, but he liked his job. He made enough money to afford his own apartment, food, water plus a few action figures each month. He was a college graduate. And he could play like two songs in acoustic guitar. He wasn't a catch by any means, but his credentials were far from terrible. He was doing fine. At the end of the day, he could easily meet someone his age at and have a serious relationship if he wanted to. But that wasn't what he wanted.

Oh no, Gerard wasn't looking for commitment. Or people his age.

He didn’t go out much. Once work was over, he would rush back to his apartment. There, he would eat greasy instant meals from the local department store. They never tasted any good. Also, he was pretty sure that they were the reason behind his weight gain. But hey, they got the job done. 

Everyday he would browse his computer while eating dinner. It was his favorite part of the day; eating terrible food and checking his new messages. He had joined around twelve different dating sites, but he only checked three of them on a daily basis. He had multiple profiles on most of them.

There were specific things he looked for on the people he messaged on those websites; for one, he always looked for boys who posted pictures of themselves regularly. He also only talked to the boys who he deem as "shy" or "insecure" from their profile descriptions. Most importantly, he only talked to the boys who "looked younger than the age they claimed to be". And not in the way some people claim to be 27 when they are clearly in their mid thirties. No, Gerard liked the boys who said they were 18 but clearly weren't. 

He didn’t like to think much about it. Again, he didn't consider himself a creep. He always told himself that it wasn't illegal if they claimed to be 18 on their dating profiles. ~~He never met them anyway.~~

All Gerard did was chat. Maybe some dirty talk. Then trade some pictures. He never made them do anything they didn't want to do. Perhaps it wasn't exactly “ethical” to flirt with people at least ten years younger than him, but Gerard didn't consider himself a bad person.

He was just having a good time. He was never going to meet _any_ of them. Cause that’s something a creep would do.  
***  
There were many things that Gerard liked about working at an art supply store. One of them was the amount of free time he would get. Multiple hours could pass without a single customer approaching the place at all. Some days they didn't even get customers. It was bad for the business, sure. But he appreciated those days. He could be peacefully in his phone refreshing his dating profiles. He could send messages to multiple people in peace. 

"Did you check out the new store on the second floor?"  
Asked Ray Toro, his co worker. The man was laying on the floor. He was reading one of the art magazines they were supposed to be selling.

"Nah," Gerard replied without looking away from his phone "Why?"  
He wanted to sound engaged in the conversation but he was more interested in the messages he was checking out.

"They sell like collectable stuff. Like, Cards, figurines and what not. I thought you'd be into it"  
Ray explained, not looking away from his magazine either. He wasn’t very close to Gerard. Their relationship was just seeing each other everyday. They had casual chats sporadically. 

"Sounds cool. I may check it out during the next break"  
Gerard said without too much enthusiasm. But Ray was trying to be nice, so he had to pretend interest in the store. 

He wasn’t going to check it out during their break. He was going to lock himself in the bathroom and send dirty messages. To be fair, Gerard liked buying his things online. So he had no interest in buying overpriced video game figurines at the mall. 

Minutes went by. The store stayed silent. Moments where Gerard could give his full attention to the teenagers he was flirting with. Ray broke it off saying, 

"Who are you texting to? I swear you're always doing something in your phone.” Ray was trying to sound playful, but he was legitimately curious “When do I get to meet him?"  
Ray said. He had wanted to confront Gerard about his cellphone habits before. It just felt like a strange thing to ask. He was tired of it though. He did needed to ask. It was exhausting seeing Gerard ignore everything else.

"Just checking emails"  
Gerard excused himself immediately. Didn’t even look at Ray.

"You're trying to convince me that ...you just spent twenty minutes refreshing your email?"  
His co worker insisted, finally pulling his magazine away, to look at him.

"I buy a lot of shit online, you know that. I have to keep up with shipping, all that. Message the sellers a lot. It’s not that serious"  
Gerard said, this time he actually looked at Ray while he spoke.

"Fine, whatever"

More silence. 

Gerard could concentrate in his phone again - something he was thankful for. Someone new was sending him messages now. Someone cute. And cute boys always got his full attention - briefly, at least. Ray got back to browsing through the magazine, skimming through the articles. Ray didn’t understand why Gerard had to be so secretive all the time. 

Again, the quiet moment was interrupted when his coworker said:

"So, when do I get to meet him?" 

Gerard smiled. He didn’t say anything else.

***


	2. James

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> uh???? i think i tagged my works as "completed" when they're not. literally none of them except "best friends" are completed? uhhhhh sorry about that. i'll try to fix it tomorrow so i might update the other careful/careless then. how did i not notice lmao...
> 
> anyway i had finished this chapter a long time ago but i didn't like it so i started all over again. so here it is, second attempt...

Like on most fridays, Gerard bought _way too much_ fast food. Probably enough to feed the average family.

He came home with a huge order from his favorite burger joint. As usual, he ordered multiple burgers, fries, and the largest drink available. In total, there were enough calories to feed a healthy man his size for about three to four days. To Gerard though, that was just friday night diner. He lived alone, he didn’t have to deal with his mother preaching him for his unhealthy habits anymore. He could eat like a pig without being judged. 

But really, there was no reason to eat that much. In fact, after the second burger or so, he usually didn’t even feel hungry anymore. But he liked eating. It kept him occupied. It kept him feeling good. He didn’t care that it was obviously taking a toll on his body. He had been chubby his entire life! Why give up on his favorite food now? He was never ever going to say “No” to burgers and fries for diner.

He ate next to his computer monitor. He would take bites of his food and then refresh his web browser. Somehow, this was the highlight of his week. His social life was dead and buried. The only things that kept him going: food, his old computer, and _maybe_ his family. 

He was searching for the latest figurines released, and on a different tab he was chatting with strangers. There was one stranger in particular that he was starting to really like. The user was called Misfits31. His profile linked to all of his social media. So naturally, Gerard had gone through all the pictures of him he could find, and he had saved as many of them as he could. The user was clearly young, definitely in high school - Gerard liked him right away. 

He had a folder in his computer dedicated to his pictures, with a few screenshots. Useful stuff, like a screenshot to his bio with all of his social media (in case he changed it later) and a few of his personal posts along with some of the messages he had sent him. They were things that could come in handy. 

He had thousands of folders in his computer dedicated to boys like him.

"I just feel so...lonely...idk"  
Misfits31 had messaged him at 8:45 pm. 

Gerard had only been speaking to the user for a few days, but he was becoming really fond of him. Not only was he fuckin' gorgeous, he also seemed to trust Gerard a lot more than he should. He was perfect. Most kids got suspicious about Gerard pretty early on. Misfits31 didn’t. He always messaged him back immediately. 

He was needy though. That usually ended badly. 

“Is Bob mad at you?”  
He sent back. Frank had mentioned his best friend Bob previously, it was one of the things that he had in his folder. 

Gerard ate his fries waiting for a new message to appear. He had no real interest in the conversation. It was a good way to kill time though.That was all that Frank was going to be, anyway.

“Nah he’s fine.” he sent. Few minutes later he also sent “its not that at all. I don’t feel like the people around me get me, yn? I wish that i could hang out with someone cool like u. You’ve like, read every comic book EVER. You like all these weird bands and movies too. Like, shit that i have never even heard of... All the people around here are into the same boring shit. I wanna meet someone like you”

“That’s nice :)”  
He didn’t really know what to say. He was not that interesting at all. His taste wasn’t obscure or strange by any means, he simply liked things that were too old for Frank to know about. Just the day before he had made a reference to the movie “They live”. Frank had said that he had never heard of the movie, that he would check it out later. Gerard was not going to hold a conversation in real life with someone who had not seen “They live”.

He was attracted to teenagers for sure, but that didn’t mean that he _liked_ em. They were moody, self centred, condescending creatures. He had enough of that in high school. Hell, even talking to his younger brother was difficult at times. He was too old to deal with shit like that. Teenagers were pretty to look at. But that was about it. Gerard didn’t want to meet them.

The great thing about internet dating was that he could find them, get some good pics, and disappear from their lives. And most importantly, not go to jail. He wanted to keep things that way for good.

“Like U. im saying, i wanna meet U.” Ten minutes later he added another message: “lol”

Gerard’s profile was deceiving, to say the least.

In his profile he was in college, his name was James, and he was a hunky guy with blue eyes. He had so many pictures of that hunky guy (who was actually a russian model) that it was sort of believable. He edited them too, changing enough stuff so that they couldn’t be searched and traced back to the source. He had even gone through the trouble of making a profile in a different website, where he would post even more pictures. He had likes and comments on all of his posts, making it look almost legit.

Almost. Anyone older than Frank wouldn’t fall for it. Gerard _was_ clearly using pictures from a model. An obscure model at that, but a model. The type of people you don’t see at dating websites begging for replies.

“Hahaha. omg you’re so sweet :) but im super busy with my classes and all that”  
He sent back. He liked being James. When James liked weird stuff he was cool and interesting. When Gerard liked weird stuff he was creepy and immature. 

“I mean... It can be something low key… we could meet at a coffee shop or something. Just talk for a few hours idk”  
The teenager insisted. Frank strongly believed that James was real. He wanted to meet him as soon as humanly possible. 

“cant. ive never met anyone from the internet tbh its kinda scary to me :(“  
Gerard checked the other window he had. It was a website where figurine collectors could get the latest releases. It was entirely in japanese, but Gerard could understand most of it. He used it every other week. While he waited for the teenager to respond, he ordered a figurine from one of his favorite shows. He didn’t even think about it twice before pressing “buy”. 

“Its not if u go to like a public place. i’ve done it before. nothing bad happened to me.”  
_Yeah, cause you’ve never met with a guy like me_. Gerard couldn’t think of what to respond for a long time. He went for more fries.

When he was back, he sent: “We can meet. Not right now though. Maybe, give me some time? Please?” 

“Course. I trust u :)”  
The other person replied.  
****

The cafeteria was loud, but it didn’t distract Frank at all. Hearing his friends talk to each other about school didn’t bother him either. His phone was way more important than all of that. Checking his messages, updating his profile and sending more messages on his phone was important. 

His internet “friends” were different from his real friends. His internet friends always sent him compliments, they would promise him things, make him feel good. Why would he talk to people in his school? Ever? Under any circumstance? The people he met online were smart, attractive, cool. 

His friends in school were nothing to brag about. He mostly talked to Bob, and he was sort of friends with Mikey from his chemistry class. Other than those two, he rarely talked to his other classmates. People in school were boring. Plus, they didn’t like Frank very much. But the people on the internet, _loved_ Frank. 

“Dude can’t you leave your phone for like one second? You look like a tool”  
Bob pointed out, making Frank finally look up. He locked his phone before putting it in his pocket. 

“Mrs. Paige almost caught you with it too, man. Chill”  
Mikey agreed. 

He was right too.

During one of their classes, Frank had been messaging someone. Someone he had met recently through a dating website. His profile said that his name was James. James was this attractive college guy. The type of person who probably wouldn’t even glance at Frank in real life.

James mostly talked about music and movies. Nothing too serious.

But on that Monday, James had sent him a different type of message. He had asked if Frank was single. Frank had to respond immediately. He didn’t just say he was single: he explained that he was _totally_ down with dating men. James had only sent him a smiley face back. 

So Frank kept sending him more and more messages about his non existent love life. Basically repeating over and over again how the boys in his classes were all lame. Also talking about how James was so different from them. James would merely reply with “oh i see” and “ok” at best. It didn’t make Frank any less excited though.

Mrs. Paige had seen him, but he had managed to hide the phone in his slacks before she got any closer. He stopped texting James then. That teacher confiscated phones all the time - she had no heart. He was not going to risk it again. Mrs Paige was straight up evil.

Of course that as soon as the class ended, he started sending more messages. James didn’t even respond to much of it. He was clearly busy with something else. 

“I’m not being a tool. I’m just texting a friend - that’s all.”  
He already felt the urge to check his phone again. What if James was sending him more messages? He asked if he was single. That meant he _liked_ him. No one liked Frank in real life! He needed to keep sending him messages. He needed to meet him so badly now. 

He had received weird love messages from people on the internet before, sure. But from complete strangers. And ones that weren’t hot. James was different. Because James had actually gotten to know him. And because god damn, James was hot in all of his pictures. There was no way he was letting James go.

“Dude…” Bob started, “You literally don’t have any other friends.”

“I have tons of other friends that aren’t you guys.”

“Like who? Your mom?”  
Bob joked. Mikey was listening closely to the conversation between the two, not knowing how to be a part of it. He smiled at Bob’s comment.

“Like the guy i’m texting.” He stopped before saying his name “You don’t know him”

“We can meet. Tell him to sit with us!”  
Bob looked around the cafeteria. He knew that no one was going to join the table. The whole thing was ridiculous. 

“H-he doesn’t go to this school.”  
Frank looked at his food tray. He wasn’t hungry anymore. He wished school would end already. He missed his computer; and most importantly, he missed being able to send James messages without people bothering him.

“Ah, fuck off.”  
Bob shaked his head, making Mikey laugh. The story did not convince either of them. Hell, even if Frank had shown them James’s profile, they wouldn’t have believed it was a real person at all. 

“He’s real, guys!” He looked at his friends “His name is James”

“We could go to your house and meet him there, you know”  
Mikey said in hopes of Bob agreeing with him. He didn’t know Bob or Frank very much. He wanted to, though. He was glad that he could talk to them as if they were friends. 

“No.” He responds “He’s busy with school- h-he can’t”

“Frank,” Bob said, looking at his friend “we know theres no James”

Frank didn’t know what else to say. He wasn’t going to admit that James was a college guy that he met on a dating website. That was pretty fucking embarrassing. Dating websites were for creeps and loners. His friends would never stop making jokes about it. There was no way he was going to admit any of it.

“He’s real. We’re friends. We talk... all the time”  
He looked at his food tray again. He wasn’t sure what else to say. He liked James - he had to be real.

“Whatever you say, dude”  
Bob and Mikey smirked at each other. 

“He’s real, guys. You’ll see. He’s like- the coolest guy ever”  
He tried taking a bite of his food. If he was eating, maybe he wouldn’t have to talk anymore. He didn’t want to talk anymore. His friends were dicks. They had to be jealous. _They_ were the ones that didn’t have any other friends. 

_you’ll see. When i meet him…_  
****


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look at me, actually posting fics and shit, WE DID IT KIDS.

The next morning Gerard woke up in pain. He was getting too old for his bad habits. He slept for only three hours and now he had to get to work. And every part of his body refused to cooperate with him.

His jeans were starting to feel tighter. The uniform jacket didn't fit him anymore. He didnt want to tell anyone about it, but he couldn't close it at all. Life was taking a turn that he did not enjoy. But he _hadn't_ changed. His _body_ was the one changing. He was a teenage slob anymore. He was an overweight man. That was a scary feeling to him. His skin was losing all its beauty.

It felt unfair. All the young boys always looked beautiful. All while he seemed to look worse with each passing year. Why couldn't he remain one of them? Why couldn't everything stay the same? Forever. Was this just life? Buying bigger jeans and getting more tired every year till you drop dead?

The man looked through the thousands of pictures saved on his phone. All those pretty faces. All that youth. All those things that life took away from him. It was painful. None of it was forever. None of it was going to stay with Gerard. Only in pictures.

“what r u doing? (:?”

He didn't catch which if his contacts send him the message. He had so many strangers added to his contacts. His phone was constantly buzzing. At some point Ray had made a joke that Gerard must have been a drug dealer or something.

Either way, his pictures were his treasure. And whoever the person texting him was, had no idea who Gerard was. He had no idea of the pictures on his phone. Or the anxiety he sometimes had over them. 

“Gym”  
The man lied like it was nothing.

“Pic?”

Whatever. Whatever. There was something in his gallery that he could use. Fuck it. His drive had folders filled with pictures to use. It didn't matter. None of of it was real or meaningful to him. It was more about the thrill and having someone care about him, even if it was for a short time only.

It didn't take him a long time to find something to use. The first picture of some attractive guy posing in a gym mirror. That was the one that he sent. It was a model that couldn't look any less like Gerard actually did look like. 

“OMG”

Gerard had no clue as to who he was talking to either. All these conversations could become jarring at times. They all sort of mud together after a while. The struggles that they are going through are all the same. The things that get their attention are all the same. The conversations he had with them repeated each other over and over again. 

“what R U doing?”

The person did not respond immediately. It took him an excruciating amount of time. To the point that Gerad thought he was never going to respond. That he was going to come back three days later with “sorry, i fell asleep”. It was not uncommon to have those type of interactions too. It didn't bother Gerard anymore. There would be someone else that could respond to his messages. Or he could start a new account and do everything all over again.

For what purpose exactly? Not one that he could describe. It was just the type of thing he did. Having no other hobbies or friends will do that to you.

But the boy did respond. Eventually.

With a picture.

A very nice picture. He was in front of a bathroom mirror too. One that was clearly set in a high school bathroom. His white shirt was open, exposing the black misfits t-shirt that he had underneath. A spiked belt was holding the khakis he was wearing. Highschool boy. Not only that, private school. Probably catholic. If he had a type, that probably would be it. Him being a misfits fan only made things better. 

He was cute. Like, unbearably cute. “I don't know if i deserve to even talk to you” cute. 

If Gerard was actually his age… Frank would probably be the guy that teases him in school. 

But no. In the internet, where Gerard was attractive, Frank _wanted_ to be his friend. It was a sense of power that Gerard couldnt get from anywhere else. A satisfaction that he could never get in real life. It was a little magical to him. That’s why he kept chasing it over and over.

In real life, he had always and would always be a loser. But that wasn't an issue when he was talking to those strangers. Because when he talked to them, he didn't have to be himself at all. He could be anyone. Someone that could be liked…

So he didn't respond Franks message. He saw the message and locked his phone. He didn't owe Frank a response. It was part of the fun. **He** wanted Gerards attention, not the other way around. And that's the thing about teenagers, it's all about attention. If Frank doesn't get the attention he wants in the first try, he’ll try again.

And he did. Because an hour later Gerards phone was buzzing and buzzing from his new messages.

***

“You okay? You look sick”

“I feel fine.”

“You can take a minute if you need to”

“No, im fine. Trust me.” A fake smile. Ray nodded just the same “Can i ask you something? Not work related

“Sure buddy. Anything”

“You- you do the gym thing? Like you're one of those people who go to the gym and stuff?”

“I guess? I dont go everyday, if that's what you mean. Four days of the week.”

“How do you do it?”

“Well, i have a membership-”

“No, i mean… it's painful, isn't it? And you're in a place where everyone can see you. Doesn't that make you uncomfortable? How do you deal with it 

“Its a gym, Gerard. Not high school. No one cares what everyone else is doing. You focus on your routine and not on the rest. I'm sure someone has made a comment about me there, but i don't care if i look silly. Im there for **myself**. And for these babies right here”  
He said before flexing the muscles in his right arm. Gerard laughed.

“Is it expensive?”

“It depends. If you get a gym membership and never use it. In that case yeah, id say its expensive as hell.”

“i'll keep it in mind.”

Silence.

“Is this about mystery guy? You trying to impress him or what?”

“There's no mystery guy, Ray”

“Show me your phone!”

“No! I swear. You're not missing out on anything.”

“You just wanted to get fitness all of the sudden?”

“Yeah. “

Pause.

“Maybe once you start working out things will be different. Hell, you could meet a guy _at_ the gym”

“doubt it.” 

“I don't. You can meet all kinds of people at the gym. What's your type, uh? Chubby? Muscular? Skinny?”

“Nothing like that. I think… i think i like punk guys.”

“Really!?”

“Yes! But- _Cute_ punk, Ray. Someone who is cute and punk.”

“Bi or gay?”

“Don't care about that”

“Tall? Good genes and all”

“I don't mind short guys. The type who need to get on their knees to kiss you”

“Jesus, you ARE describing someone! Who is it?”

“It's no one! There's NO guy! I'm saying that from experience, that's all”

“Facial hair?”

“NEVER” He was suddenly very serious “if i can't grow it, neither should you!”

“Age range?”

“What? Like did i hear you right?”

“Like, what age is too old? What age is too young for you?”

“i don't focus on that stuff. i really don't!

“How old is the guy you like then?”

“He does **not** exist.”

And then the buzz on his phone started again.

***


End file.
